Category Archives: Education

Former teacher Marcia Brown earns international renown as an author and illustrator

Posted on by

Former teacher Marcia Brown became an internationally renowned author and illustrator of children’s books. Photo Credit: University of Albany

Many talented educators earn recognition for achievements outside their classrooms. Marcia Joan Brown is a excellent example of this. She is an internationally renowned author and illustrator of children’s books. Marcia has published over 30 books in her lifetime, and she is a three-time winner of the coveted Caldecott Medal, the highest award for excellence in children’s picture book illustrations bestowed by the American Library Association.

Marcia Brown was born in Rochester, New York, on July 13, 1918, one of three daughters of the Reverend Clarence Edward and Adelaide Elizabeth (Zimber) Brown. As a young child, Marcia lived in several small towns in upstate New York, including Cooperstown and Kingston, as her father moved from one ministerial post to another. She was raised in a family that supported artistic expression, and she decided at an early age to become an artist. In a videotaped interview in 1996, Marcia reminisced about the books and artworks in her local public library in Cooperstown, New York, that nurtured her sense of wonder and joy in beautiful things when she was a child.

After her high school graduation in 1936, Marcia enrolled in New York State College for Teachers (NYSCT), the University at Albany’s predecessor, where she majored in English and Drama. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1940. While in college, Marcia’s literary and artistic talents blossomed, and she made numerous contributions to the college’s literary and humor magazines.

After graduating from NYSCT, Marcia accepted her first position as a high school teacher at Cornwall High School in New York City. In 1943, she began working in the New York Public Library’s Central Children’s Room. She spent the next six years gaining valuable experience as a storyteller, while also delving into the library’s extensive international and historical collections. She published her first four books while working in the library’s Central Children’s Room.

During her long career as a writer and illustrator, Marcia produced over 30 children’s books, and many of her titles have been reprinted in other languages, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Xhosa-Bantu. Critics have marveled at her use of spare texts, strong images, and a variety of media, including woodcuts, pen and ink, and gouache. Her characters are described as lively, humorous, magical, and enchanting, and they include handsome princes, sly cats, evil sorcerers, flying elephants, and snow queens.

From 1955 to 1983 Brown won a total of three Caldecott Medals. This award is bestowed annually by the American Library Association to the illustrator of the year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children.” She had been a runner-up six times from 1948 to 1954, and those six books have also been designated Caldecott Honor Books. Marcia also garnered a Regina Medal in 1977 from the Catholic Libraries Association for “continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature without regard to the nature of the contribution,” and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 1992 from the American Library Association for her “substantial and lasting contributions to children’s literature.”

In her last years, Marcia Brown lived in Laguna Hills, California, where she passed away on April 28, 2015. She was 96 years old.

 

Sarah Ware Bassett: Kindergarten teacher and writer of young adult novels

Posted on by

Kindergarten teacher Sarah Ware Bassett of Massachusetts was also a prolific writer of novels for young adults. Photo Credit: Princeton Historical Society

Talented teachers often earn acclaim in fields other than education. One such Chalkboard Champion was Sara Ware Bassett, a kindergarten teacher who worked in the public schools of Newton, Massachusetts. Her career as a teacher spanned 20 years, but during these years, she was also a prolific author of books for young adults.

Sarah was born in 1872 and attended schools in her native town of Newton. Her family spent their summer vacations on Cape Cod. After her high school graduation, she attended the Lowell Institute of Design at MIT, where she majored in textile design. She then studied writing at both Radcliffe and Boston University. In her later years, she divided her time between her homes in Princeton and Cape Cod.

Sarah began her career as an author writing a series of nonfiction books for young adults. The series was entitled The Story of Lumber, The Story of Wool, etc., but it was through fiction that her talent became really evident.  Many of her novels focus on love stories and humorously eccentric characters. She wrote over 40 novels for young people, most with Cape Cod as the setting. Some of her titles are Within the Harbor, Hidden Shoals, and Flood Tides. The novels usually took place in the town of Belleport, a locale which she created that seemed so real to her hundreds of readers that they could not believe it did not really exist. Many readers made pilgrimages up and down the Cape looking for it! Two of her novels were even made into movies. Her very first novel, The Taming of Zenah Henry, became the movie Captain Hurricane when it was released by RKO. The Harbor Road filmed by Universal became Danger Ahead.

During her lifetime, Sarah cut an unusual figure around town, resembling a character in an English detective novel. She dressed as one would expect Agatha Christie’s character Miss Marple would have dressed, sporting tweed skirts, a man’s shirt, and sensible walking shoes. She was often seen around Princeton as she conducted her daily errands at the post office or the general store.

When Sarah passed away in 1968 at the age of 95, she left a legacy of over 500 books of her own writings and those of her contemporaries to the Boston Public Library. The collection is now part of their Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection.

Jackson Davis: He worked tirelessly for African American students

Posted on by

Jackson Davis worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for African Americans here in the United States, and for Africans abroad. Photo Credit: Encyclopedia Virginia

Many Chalkboard Champions work tirelessly on behalf of disenfranchised groups of students. This is certainly true of Jackson Davis, a remarkable educator who devoted his entire 45-year career to improving educational opportunities for African American students here in the United States, and for Africans abroad.

Jackson was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, on Sept. 25, 1882. He attended public schools in Richmond, Virginia. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary in 1902 and his Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1908. In addition, he was awarded an honorary law degree by the University of Richmond in 1930 and another by the College of William and Mary in 1931.

Following graduation from William and Mary, Jackson was employed in a variety of high-profile positions, where he dedicated his talents to improving the lives of students. He became the principal of the public schools of Williamsburg, Virginia. He also served as the Assistant Secretary of the YMCA in Roanoke, Virginia, from 1903 to 1904. During the 1904-1905 school year, he was principal of the public schools of Marion, Virginia, followed by a stint as the Superintendent of Schools in Henrico County, Virginia from 1905 to 1909. The next year, 1909-1910, this hardworking educator served as a member of the State Board of Examiners and Inspectors for the Virginia State Board of Education, and from 1910 to 1915, this forward-thinking individual was the state agent for African-American rural schools for the Virginia State Department of Education.

In 1915, Jackson became affiliated with the General Education Board in New York, New York, as a field agent. Two years later he was transferred to New York City as the board’s general field agent, where he remained until 1929 when he was made the Assistant Director. He became the Associate Director in 1933, and the Vice President and then the Director in 1946. During his many years associated with the General Education Board, Jackson’s work was focussed on education in the Southern states, and he used his influence to improve relations and understanding between White people and African Americans. His pioneering work in promoting regional centers of education in the South tremendously significant.

Throughout his extensive career, Jackson specialized in Southern education, inter-racial problems, and education in the Belgian Congo and Liberia. In 1935 he traveled to Africa as a Carnegie visitor, and in 1944 he went again to that country as the leader of a group sent by the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the British Conference of Missions, and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. As if all that were not enough, Jackson served as a trustee of the Phelps-Stokes Fund, an organization devoted to African American education and race relations, both in America and in Africa. He became vice president of the fund in 1940, and succeeded Anson Phelps Stokes as president in 1946.

At the time of his death in 1947, Jackson T. Davis was the President of the Board of Trustees of Booker T. Washington Institute in Liberia, the President of the New York State Colonization Society, a member of the Commission on Inter-Racial Cooperation, and of the Advisory Committee on Education in Liberia. He served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary from 1913 to 1920, and as secretary of the International Education Board from 1923 to 1938. He also frequently contributed articles for publication to educational journals.

This remarkable Chalkboard Champion passed away in Cartersville, Virginia, on April 15, 1947. In 1962, Jackson Davis Elementary School in Henrico County, Virginia, was dedicated in his honor. To read more about him, see this article published on Encyclopedia Virginia.

Women’s History Month: Honoring pioneer schoolteachers

Posted on by

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’d like to pay homage today to our country’s pioneer schoolteachers. America’s Wild West was tamed in part due to the talented and dedicated women who served as frontier schoolteachers.

The pioneering women who became teachers during this period of our nation’s history were indeed a special breed. At the turn of the century, females were expected to be dependent upon their husbands, fathers, or other male relatives. It was extremely unusual, and not at all encouraged, for a woman to support herself and function independently. Nevertheless, many intelligent and self-reliant women in search of personal freedom and adventure joined the Westward movement as schoolmarms.

The stereotype of a frontier schoolteacher was that of an unattractive spinster or a prim and proper young miss. In reality, she was often neither of those. Many of these ladies came from influential and affluent Eastern families. A few were filled with burning ambition, and others were seeking a better life, and perhaps some were seeking a husband of like mind. In general, though, they were dedicated practitioners of their profession. Despite primitive working conditions, uninviting classrooms, low wages, and overwork, these stalwart women introduced literacy, culture, and morality to the roughneck communities they served. A few of these teachers became missionaries, others became suffragettes, and one of them—Jeannette Rankin of Montana—even went on to become the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives!

Our society owes these frontier schoolmarms a great debt. Read more about pioneering teachers in my book, Chalkboard Champions, available through amazon.com or Amazon. Enjoy!

AVID teacher Rosa Dockal mentors at-risk students

Posted on by

Rosa Dockal, an AVID teacher in San Antonio, Texas, was just a child and couldn’t speak English when she came to this country as an immigrant. Now she teaches at-risk, first-generation students. Photo Credit: Open Sky Media Publications

I always enjoy sharing stories about inspirational educators from around the country. One of these is Rosa Dockal, a teacher from San Antonio, Texas. She was named one of her District’s Teachers of the Year in 2021.

Rosa currently teaches AVID courses at Travis Early College High School in the San Antonio Independent School District. Her career as an educator spans 25 years. The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program provides extra support for low-income, minority students. The curriculum involves instruction in note-taking and study skills, tutoring, and mentoring. Most of the students who graduate from the program have earned a high school diploma plus an Associate’s degree and up to 60 college credits from San Antonio College. 

Rosa’s family immigrated to San Antonio from Mexico when she was a pre-schooler. “When I came from Mexico, I didn’t know English, so I knew the struggle of learning a different language. It’s not easy,” Rosa declares. But by the time she was in the fifth grade, she was at the top of her class, and she was placed in a magnet program.

Even though she was the first in her family to graduate from high school, Rosa declared her intent to go to college to become a teacher. “I didn’t know what a FAFSA was,” she admits. “My parents didn’t speak the language, so I had to do it by myself—but I didn’t do it by myself, because I had so many teachers and counselors who helped me,” she says. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would have gone,” she confesses.

Rosa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Once she landed her teaching position at Travis, she began to work with at-risk, first-generation students like herself. In addition to her AVID courses, she also teaches Spanish language classes.

For her exemplary work with young people, Rosa was named one of several teachers in her district as a Teacher of the Year in 2021.